Kuala Lumpur (KL) was fantastic. The first 3 nights I stayed with Alvin, a Malaysian friend who I met in Ireland in 2000. And everyday he introduced me to more of his friends. We enjoyed great conversation over excellent food, including a very tender sting ray and delicate Japanese tofu. After a few days, I met up with Maya, a Malaysian friend from high school. She let me tag along to her night job as a DJ for Traxx FM, the only government-owned English language radio station. She played some great music for the Thursday night Alternative show and I even got some air time reminiscing about being in a high school musical with Paul Banks, the lead singer of Interpol. For the record, he was one of the leads in South Pacific and I was ... read more

This will be my last entry from Timor. The last couple weeks confirmed that I made the right decision in staying in Timor this long. The beach trip to Liquica for Annie's birthday was a blast. I rented a scooter to get out there. And more or less, I had no mishaps. There was a point where I almost drove off the road and this ambulance with heavily armed guys in camo stopped to "take control of the situation". They followed Asha and I with their lights flashing until they got bored and thankfully passed us, waving and smiling. Last Wednesday I went up to Laclubar for the Easter. It was fantastic staying at my house with the whole family (save Ano - whose absence did not please his mother). After two interminable evening masses on ... read more

I am in East Timor and things are pretty good. A couple of weeks ago there were assassination attempts on the President and Prime Minister, but Dili is far from tense. It actually seems more relaxed and prosperous than any other time that I've been here. There are more stores and restaurants. And more foreigners to fill them, not the gun-toting military guys from Nov 2006, but UN and NGO people. I am staying with my friend from Peace Corps Jesse and I pay him back by translating articles from Tetun to English for the weekly newspaper where he works. As far as I know there are 6 Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCV) here, though maybe Returned isn't the right word. Another RPCV friend Annie is the Administration Manager at Dr. Daniel Murphy's clinic. Dr. Dan ... read more